Manchester City appear to have beaten several of Europe’s elite clubs to the signing of Uzbek defender Abdukodir Khusanov in what has to be regarded as one of the most remarkable transfers in history, and he may well be the first of many Uzbek players to make big moves.
By Alex Roberts
The reported €40 million fee makes him far and away Uzbekistan’s most expensive player in history, more than double the €19.6 million price tag Roma paid Genoa for Eldor Shomurodov back in July 2024.
When Khusanov makes his debut the 20-year-old will become the first Uzbek player in Premier League history and the deal will be pound for pound, quite literally, one of the most profitable ever, having joined RC Lens from Belarusian side Energetik-BGU for a measly €100,000 back in the summer of 2023.
It was a deal that not many paid much attention to at the time, for obvious reasons, but there was method to the madness. Not long after moving to Minsk, Khusanov enjoyed his first major international success as Uzbekistan won the 2023 Under-20 Asian Cup on home soil, conceding just one goal in the process.
The only way was up from there. Khusanov starred for Uzbekistan once again just two months later, playing every minute for Uzbekistan in the Under-20s World Cup before being knocked out by Israel in the round of 16.
There will be plenty of differences between playing for RC Lens and Man City. The most obvious is Lens play a back three, while City, in transition at least, usually stick with a back four.
Pep Guardiola, furious after their 2-1 Manchester derby defeat to Man United, claimed “We have no defence”, and he’s not wrong. Even when they’ve not had to contend with injuries, City’s aging back line have not been up to par in the first half of the season.
Nathan Aké, Manuel Akanji, John Stones, and Kyle Walker are all entering the twilight of their incredible careers, to a different degree, with Walker looking set for a move after catching flak from his own fans for multiple high-profile mistakes.
It’s an area they’ve addressed and are working towards fixing; not just bringing Khusanov to the club, but Palmeiras wonderkid Vitor Reis set to join him as City seek to spend their way out of trouble.
City’s recruitment team know what they’re doing, and that makes the move for Khusanov all the more interesting. In many ways, he’s not the usual type of centre-back Guardiola would go for.
In the Uzbek language Khusanov means ‘mighty’, which is pretty apt. He never stops, he’d slide tackle his grandma if it meant preventing an attack, and that’s why he’s been nicknamed ‘the train.’
When you close your eyes and think of the archetypal Guardiola centre-back, you see Rúben Dias. An impressive ball carrier, passer, and annoyingly handsome, Khusanov doesn’t have all of those traits.
Compared to the other two in Lens’ preferred back three, Khusanov has the least number of successful passes with 475 compared to Kevin Danso’s 658, and Facundo Medina’s 818.
He’s also created the least number of chances amongst the three with two, four fewer than Danso, and a whopping eight fewer than Medina. Of course, he will see more of the ball at City, so he will have to adapt quickly.
He carries the weight of a nation on his shoulders. His remarkable rise to prominence is a huge source of national pride in Uzbekistan, but contrary to popular belief, they’ve always had a love for football.
Currently sat in 58th in the FIFA National Team Rankings, they’re above more traditionally football mad countries like the Republic of Ireland, Ghana, and Euro 2016 quarter-finalists Iceland.
That’s not all down to Khusanov, although he has played a significant role. CSKA winger Abbosbek Fayzullaev is also one of the most exciting young prospects in Asia, never mind Uzbekistan.
Fayzullaev beat Khusanov to the Uzbekistan’s Best Player of 2024 award, as well as the 2023 Asian Young Footballer of the Year and is featuring regularly for the Moscow club, scoring two goals, and providing three assists in his 16 league games.
Obviously, playing in Russia adds an extra level of trickiness should a top European club decide to make a move given political tension we don’t have enough space to write about, but don’t be surprised if one of them decided to risk it sometime soon.
Azizbek Tulkinbekov, a centre-back who can also play wing-back, became the Uzbek First division’s youngest ever player, making his debut at the age of just 15 years, eight months, and 28 days for current club Bunyodkor all the way back in 2022.
The ultimate goal for the Uzbek Football Assosiation is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup in North America, which would be their first ever. They’re currently second in their qualifying group, three points behind leaders Iran who have 16, with their only defeat coming at the hands of 2022 World Cup hosts, Qatar.
There is still a long way to go, and much work to be done if they want to make it to North America, but the talent is certainly there. Khusanov’s meteoric rise is just the first, they may never win a major tournament, but so what, expect to see plenty of Uzbek players across Europe’s top leagues in the not so distant future.
(Cover image from IMAGO)
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